Want to Make Your Start-up Work? Here's how Among the numerous consumer brand start-ups, the ones who understand consumer demand are the ones who survive.
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Starting-up a business is no easy task. There are many start-ups that come up and fade away on a daily basis, but there are only a few of them that are able to make a mark for themselves. The secret of their success is high level satisfaction of their customers. "When we decided to launch The Man Company in 2015, social media had just taken off in India. It allowed us to have a strong connection with our clients. We took regular feedbacks from them," shared Hitesh Dhingra, founder and MD of The Man Company, while speaking at the Startup Summit 2019 organised by Franchise India.
The Man Company, which makes men grooming products, strongly believes in asking customers there requirements. "Our product line in a way is designed by our customers," said Dhingra. He shares that the company regularly asks its customers about their requirements and needs through various feedback channels.
The Man Company raised funding from Emami Group early this year. "We were already profitable when Emami invested in us. We could succeed because we were true to our vision and did not comprise in order to raise funds," added Dhingra.
Identify The Latent Demand
Electric mobility is said to be the future of the automobile industry. But Blue Smart Mobility's COO Anirudh Arun begs to differ. According to Arun, the market for shared mobility is available and needs to be tapped. "It is not possible to drive everywhere. Shared mobility is more convenient, cheaper and a smarter option," said Arun. He also believes that today's youth is more environment-conscious and aware of carbon footprint. "They are sensitive and aware about the impact of their actions on the environment," claims Arun.
Blue Mobility has raised $3 million funding from actress Deepika Padukone in February this year. "Our core team still jokes that we do not have a selfie with Deepika," chuckled Arun.
A Little Tweak In Your Start-up
"Laundry industry is the most unglamorous one. People do not want to be a dhobi (a washerman)," said Arunabh Sinha, founder, UClean. The founder says the path to find a successful business model has been a tough one. "It took a lot of convincing to show people the viability of our business," he said.
He further added that in the beginning, his business did not perform as expected. "We studied the customer demand and behaviour and brought in a lot of new and customized services accordingly," says Sinha.
The company introduced pick-up and drop services for laundry, customisable options such as fragrance wash on the basis of per clothing item among others to satisfy its customer demands.vUClean now has 200-plus successful franchises across India.
Innovation Is The Answer
Harish Khatri, founder, India Assist, realized that he can improve the experience of various tourists who come to India by building a company that would act as a one-stop solution for all the possible difficulties and problems they might encounter. "We want to be travel partners for all the tourists, looking after all their needs," shares Khatri.
The company has been able to gain traction and has raised funding from investors in the Silicon Valley.
One thing common in all these start-ups is their sensitivity towards the demand of the market. So, if you crack this up, your work is half-done.
